Directions

Issue 45
Summer 2010

The Rowan Organisation
Supporting Independence through Choice

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• Corrections 
• Care first careers funding
• Holiday and holiday pay
• Could you be a magistrate?
• Warwickshire News
• Inclusive sport for disabled people
• Breaks for carers website
• A Rough Guide to Accessible Britain
• Readers writes

Note from the editorial team...

Summertime is here again bringing with it the lovely sunshine, warmth and the Summer 2010 edition of our Directions newsletter.

In this edition you will find out about the £1000 Care First Careers funding available, holiday entitlement and holiday pay, a personal experience of being a magistrate, local news in Warwickshire about inclusive sports for disabled people and the new breaks for carers website launched this month, a rough guide to accessible Britain and a Readers Writes article from a Direct Payments Recipient in Nottingham.

Corrections

As far as we are aware there were no corrections to be made to the last issue of Directions. If any of our readers did spot an error, please do not hesitate to inform us. Contact details appear on page 1 and on the back cover.

Care First Careers Funding. Could you be entitled to £1000?

People who receive direct payments and become employers will be eligible for Care First Careers funding, subject to satisfying the criteria for the scheme. These are that the direct payment employer recruits a personal assistant:

• Who is aged between 18-24 years old
• Who has been claiming Jobseekers Allowance continuously for 26 weeks or more.
• A recruitment subsidy of £1000 will be available if the jobseeker remains in the employment of the direct payment user for more than six months and works for an average of over 16 hours per week.

£500 is paid at the commencement of the employment into the employers account. After 26 weeks the 2nd and final payment of £500 is paid. The £1000 can be spent as the direct payment recipient sees fit unless your local Authority advises otherwise.

The Department of Health, supported by the Social Care Institute for Excellence is currently preparing a leaflet that will provide more information for direct payments users who wish to benefit from Care First Careers funding.

More information and updates about Care First Careers can be found online at: www.jobcentreplus.gov.uk/JCP/Employers/carefirst/index.html.

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Holiday and holiday pay

All employers are required by law to allow all their employees to have 5.6 weeks paid holiday per year (pro rata for part time). For employees who work 5 days per week, this is equivalent to 28 days per year and includes bank and public holidays. This is the statutory minimum entitlement.

For part time employees, holiday entitlement can be calculated as a fraction of the full time entitlement. As an example; if someone works 15 hours each week, the easiest way to calculate their holiday entitlement is to multiply 15 by 5.6, which gives a figure of 84 hours per year.

Where people work variable hours from week to week or month to month, calculation of holiday entitlement is more difficult and it's usually determined by looking at how many hours have been worked in the previous thirteen weeks and doing a calculation accordingly.

If you want to give your employees more than the statutory minimum holiday entitlement, you must make sure you have sufficient funding available to allow this, and this may need to be agreed by Social Services.

Generally, public holidays include bank holidays, holidays by Royal Proclamation and ‘common law holidays'. When public holidays in the Christmas and New Year period fall on Saturdays and Sundays, alternative week days are declared public holidays.

The employment contract may set out other rules about when holiday can be taken. This is allowed as long as the rules don't effectively prevent employees from taking holiday at all.

Workers in the UK have no right to take annual leave on bank holidays but should be allowed to take their annual leave at another time.

Employers should ensure that they fulfil their legal responsibilities as well as follow good practice where employee holidays are concerned:

• Ensure that the correct annual holiday entitlement is calculated and that your employee is notified of this as part of their contract of employment.
• Be clear whether someone may be expected to work on a bank holiday or not.
• Make sure that your employees can take their holidays.
• Employees must take their holiday entitlement as it can not be paid in lieu. You will only be able to make a payment in lieu of holiday pay if their employment finishes.
• Employees should not accumulate holidays and then expect to be able to take them all towards the end of the holiday year, as this may cause you problems in finding cover at that time. Ideally, holidays should be taken at reasonably regular
  intervals throughout the year.
• For an employee who becomes pregnant, it is advisable to ensure that they take all of their outstanding holiday entitlement before they go on maternity leave.
• There is no statutory right to carry leave over to the next holiday year; it must be agreed between the employer and the worker.

To learn more about holidays and holiday entitlement, please go to the ACAS website: www.acas.org.uk (Publications - Advice leaflet - Holidays and holiday pay). Alternatively, you can contact your Payroll Service or our Information and Advice Helpline on 0845 608 8048.

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Employer's Liability Insurance

If you employ staff make sure you re-new your employers' liability insurance each year.

Could you be a magistrate? AB, a Direct Payments Recipient has kindly submitted this article

I saw a poster with this question on the back of a bus about 18 months ago. I hadn't realised that Magistrates are volunteers.

I have always had an interest in volunteering and social justice so thought I'd have a go.

I am a wheelchair user with a constant PA and a visual impairment; I fully expected them to thank me for my time while showing me the door. They didn't.

I have completed the initial training and been sitting as a new and mentored Magistrate for a little over a
year now.

It has been an incredible experience and I am continually amazed at how much the Courts service has done to enable me to participate in every aspect of being a Justice of the Peace.

It's really sad that there are so few disabled people acting as Magistrates.

It is essential that we are just as well represented within the Magistracy; we can contribute a valuable amount of experience and knowledge.

This is why I have been moved (for the first time ever!) to write to a newsletter and urge disabled people to think about applying to be a Magistrate.

All out-of-pocket expenses are reimbursed, training is on-going and the Courts are incredibly welcoming.

Further information may be found at:
www.direct.gov/magistrates

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Warwickshire News

Inclusive sports for disabled people

Nuneaton and Bedworth Leisure Trusts Disability Inclusion Officer, Mandy Stevens is employed to lead, develop and implement disability inclusion initiatives across the Borough.

Mandy is committed to providing a wide variety of inclusive sports and activities; working with local sports clubs to improve accessibility and assisting NBLT leisure facilities to help break down barriers to participation.

If you would like to find out more about the sport and physical activity available to disabled people in Nuneaton and Bedworth or would like to know more about the work of the Disability Inclusion Officer then please contact Mandy Stevens on 02476 400 583 or 07881 840 633
Alternatively e-mail http://mandy.stevens@nbleisuretrust.org or check out the website at www.nbleisuretrust.org

Warwickshire - Breaks for Carers website

Breaks for Carers is a website that has been designed for people with learning difficulties and their families living in Warwickshire.

The websites main aim is to support carers to lead the life they want to. This is done by:

• Providing a directory of learning disability service providers who are registered with Warwickshire County Council.
• Providing transport listings so that you can see what transport is available in areas near you. This includes voluntary, hospital, community and local taxis.
• Information on concessions for carers.
• A news section that will keep you up to date with local news for carers.
• A booking service which allows you to book sessional support services with some providers. It is hoped by the end of the year that the website will have the facility to book respite care as well.

The website address is www.nhs.uk/breaksforcarers

Contact details:
Breaks for Carers service desk, open Monday to Friday 8.30am to 4.30pm on 01926 742146 or email breaksforcarers@warwickshire.gov.uk.

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A rough Guide to Accessible Britain

The Rough Guide is a book packed full of ideas for accessible days out.
The Guide is written by disabled visitors and includes:

• 180 ideas for days out
• Reviews and suggestions by disabled visitors
• Best family venue
• Readers choice and
• Exceptional attractions

If you hold a Blue Badge or a Disabled Persons Railcard then the Accessible Guide is FREE. All you need to do is tell them the name of your Blue Badge issuing authority or your Railcard number when you place your order. There is also an audio version on the website to download for free.
The Guide is £6.99 (inc p&p) for everyone else.
You can order online or call 0800 953 7070 - lines are open 8am to 8pm daily.

For a large print or Braille version of the Guide, please call on 0800 953 7070. Visit www.accessibleguide.co.uk

Readers Writes. A Nottingham Service User Writes about her experience of using Direct Payments

"I decided to have a Direct Payment because I was in a violent relationship and I didn't think I could cope with everyday living.

I had a meeting with my brother's Social Worker one day and just broke down.

Prior to this I had been in and out of Psychiatric Hospitals and also had a physical disability. The Social Worker put me in touch with an organisation that supported me to get out of the relationship.

I was worried I wouldn't be able to cope on my own so the Social Worker arranged for an agency to support me via Direct Payments.

Eventually, as my confidence grew, I recruited my own PAs which gave me more flexibility. It also gave me control over who came into my home as I was very nervous of strange people.

Before, I found it so difficult to do everyday things. I got very depressed and couldn't function at all. It is nearly two years since I started on the Direct Payments scheme and I have not been admitted to hospital in all that time.

I have just moved into a lovely bungalow and direct payments have changed my way of thinking.

I still need support but I now believe I am able to do things. I value my own opinions and enjoy making plans for the future."

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